Tag Archives: 2nd Rhode Island

Houston, We Have a Tent

15 Sunday Jul 2012

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Well, almost.

One of the guys in the regiment traded the widow of another guy a RevWar GI Joe for a  tent. But he doesn’t need the tent, so he called us because he heard we were thinking about making a tent. The conversation with Mr. S took many more words than that, but I think that’s about the gist of the transaction. Poles are being sought, and even if they are not found, we have a draw knife. So we have tentage for August– one more thing to cross off the list. I still want to make a hemp canvas tent, but at least we should be set for August.

Today, after we went to an antique mall in Greenville, I started on a delayed project. We have wallpaper-covered boxes at work, and today I found a roll of wallpaper border. It’s not 18th century, but it reminded me of some late 18th-century paper at work. So I bought it, and started on boxes. The housewife I made is nice, but I’d like a bigger box for hiding things in–combs, toothbrush, who knows what. It’s a simple enough project using A. C. Moore boxes, paint, the border, and glue as well as generous applications of sandpaper. Tonight, paint; tomorrow, sandpaper.

Summer Eating

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Food, Reenacting

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What to eat in the field in August? Redcoats & Rebels approaches, and food must be prepared. This time, we are camping over. That means that pretty much everything must be ready by 1:30 on August 3, and there is nothing like a deadline to focus attention.

To start with, I turned to The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion, published in 1739. The author presents seasonal menus, because one important thing to remember is that historical eating was seasonal and local. (This concept may sound familiar to fans of Alice Waters or Mark Bittman.)

The suggestions are, of course, beyond the realm of soldiers’ rations.

Westphalia Ham & Chicken.
Bisque of Fish.
Haunch of Venison, roasted.
Venison Pasty.
Roasted fowls a la daube.
White fricassee of Chicken.
Roasted Turkeys Larded.
Beef a la Mode.
Roasted Lobsters.
Rock of Snow and Syllabub.

But take a closer look: beef a la mode is a kind of pot roast, so beef in a kettle with water and veg cooked over a fire ought to do. It’s what we call “officer chow,” and what the boys ate at Fort Lee. I was mostly looking for vegetables in season, or fruits, but the farmers’ market will provide that limitation.

So here’s what I think:
Pasties made Thursday night or Friday morning for supper on Friday.
Gingerbread cake for treats.
Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast Saturday morning, or else boiled eggs, bread, and fruit.
Bread, cheese, fruit and sliced ham for lunch on Saturday.
Tea, shrub, and gingerbread cake for Saturday tea.
Beef stew for supper on Saturday.

Breakfast and lunch will be the same for Sunday, and we pack up and leave on Sunday afternoon, so I won’t need to make Sunday supper in camp.

It’s reasonably authentic to the 18th century, though not to common soldiers’ rations. But the guys won’t want to eat firecake and water.

Hot Mess

09 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in Clothing, Reenacting

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Hand sewn, except for basting for fitting

Overalls: the devil’s clothing item, even more evil than the worst multi-part replica sleeve  (that’s right sleeves, I mean you!). First there are the fiddly fall bits. Then there is the question of overall inseam length, then the shape of the leg must match the contours of the wearer, and lest we forget, the evil tongue. All of this is followed by 15-20 buttonholes.

Why did Mr. S not join a kilted regiment? Pleats and hems, easy-peasy. Overalls, not so much. The current overall score is Overalls 1, KittyCalash, 0, Draw, 1. The current pair have conquered me, but I may yet prevail but turning them into breeches with a swift amputation of the lower extremity. The first pair I made were finally overcome last fall with a new tongue piece, but they are too baggy to be correct. We’ll call that a draw.

Many moving parts

Fitting the beasts is awful, because so much sewing has to be done up at the waist, but somehow I will have to come up with a muslin and drape the legs to the subject. Once that is done, I can make a more permanent pattern that accounts for shorter than average femurs, larger than average calves, long shins, high arches, and small feet. (Most of the 2nd Helping Regiment guys have very small feet. The Young Mr is the exception, with his 12s. Obviously, his shoes will be the first to be eaten on a march to Quebec: more leather, better broth.)

Then there is the question of a tent. Locally, a very fine hemp linen “other ranks” tent has been made, with ash tent pegs and hewn tent poles. The Young Mr and I made up a scale model last night (sans bell) to test the dimensions we worked out using math, Once school is out, all math must be real-world tested. From this, I began calculating yardage requirements, based on 57″ wide hemp linen available from a few sources. At $17/yard, it looks like $187 for a tent without a floor or mudflaps or a bell. 11 yards! That is a lot of fabric, and a lot of sewing.

Tiny little tent!

Perhaps tonight we’ll try out a slightly smaller version, with a bell. If we start this fall, we might have a tent done for next season…if the guys would only learn to sew!

Overall Objectives

07 Saturday Jul 2012

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When in doubt, hand sew: it’s good for the brain and the soul.

Thinking about reenacting in terms of mission worked in sorting out my Trouble with Ticonderoga.  The Fort’s Defiance and Independence event is meant to further their mission to “ensure that present and future generations learn from the struggles, sacrifices and victories that shaped the nations of North America,” and the BAR’s mission is to recreate the life of the common soldier of the AWI, and my family’s mission is to have fun while recreating the life of the common soldier of the AWI, if some part of an event doesn’t seem like fun, it doesn’t further our mission. And if it doesn’t seem like fun, don’t do it. It’s just that simple.

Another way of looking at this is to recognize that not every event is for every reenactor. Obviously you don’t take a Charleville to Gettysburg, but more importantly, if an event is primarily to recreate a military action, but you and your family are looking for a shared reenacting experience, you are likely to be disappointed.

I also thought about it all in terms of priorities: family first, then Regiment, and so on up the line. Better by far to hone what we have to interpret the Regiment’s history first, and to get ready for Redcoats & Rebels at Old Sturbridge Village.

This event has more tangled into it than you’d think. Last year was not so great. The Captain didn’t seem happy, Mr. S’s overalls did not pass muster in foot-related fit, the Young Mr. pouted for a half a day, and I was stuck in camp with a blowsy woman talking about babies while the public tramped across our blankets. This year, we’ll camp over and entertain Mr. S’s parents, who are determined to see one of the reenactments. OSV offers the most opportunities for them and for us. There’s the Village itself to entertain and feed them, and surrounding areas with antiques and sight-seeing. We will be “stuck” minding camp and won’t be free to entertain or feed them in the evenings, and if they stay for the twilight camp tours, there will be a curfew. There is much to like about this arrangement for us.

So in preparation, I’m making new overalls for Mr. S, who has lost enough weight that last year’s are just too big. For myself, I’m cruising bedgown images like The Provider. Chardin is a favorite painter, and while I can’t have a pinner apron, I have a blue and white striped petticoat. The white concerns me, though it would definitely get dirty fast, and there’s a lot to like about that, too.

No matter what we choose to do in the future, the sewing helps now.

To Ti, or Not to Ti?

05 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Clothing, Events, Reenacting

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We’re at a critical moment: onward to Fort Ti, or not. We haven’t had a chance to ask the captain if anyone else from our regiment is going, so we could be on our own, and need to fold into another unit in the field. Fortunately, Mr. S has done that in the past, fielding with a NY Regiment at the School of Instruction. So that’s not the barrier.

We can probably borrow a tent from the Captain, perhaps even one that will not collapse in a high wind, or be ripped to shreds. (It’s a bit of a Swamp Yankee unit, stuff is kept and mended for years, which makes it all the more authentic for this recreation of the “Ragged Lousey Naked Regiment.”)

I can get the day off, and I bet Mr S can get off work early enough that we can get to Fort Ti before dark. I don’t want to set up camp in the dark…and I bet I can figure out food and eating and cooking and even coffee.

No, what’s stopping me is “Information for Reenactors,” or the authenticity standards. There aren’t any for the women attending the event, since we won’t be “in the line,” so it isn’t about me. It’s about the men. I think of the things I’ve made and the time I have and am convinced “We’re not good enough.”

Thanks, Fort Ti!

I get the standards, and I appreciate them. I’m a thread counter myself. But the standards are high and I don’t think we’ll meet them—I know Young Mr.’s footwear won’t. He only has modern shoes, he’s a size 12, and possibly growing. Could I even get him shoes in hand by July 19? Maybe… after that we get into the clothing, which for the boys would need to be re-fitted, and perhaps even made.

So I think, on the whole, we will have to pass on Fort Ti until another year, one when we can meet the standards. Sad for us, but at least the Fort’s staff and the other attendees will not be perturbed by the child’s rubber soles.

Or do I order shoes for the child, and start sewing like a madwoman on the off-chance that Mr. S really can get off at noon, or that I can pick him up by 2:00 at a commuter line station on the way north?

Decisions…and internal conflict. Feeling “not good enough” for standards sucks, especially when you take standards seriously. At some point, OSV is going to enforce the standards they have copied from Fort Ti and Battle Road. These are good things.  But the bar is high, and I think that the kid-shoe factor is a major irritant for some folks, and to a degree to me, though I can afford the shoes and can even, by force of will, cause them to be worn, as long as they arrive in time. (Fugawee, not Robert Land, would have to be the supplier.)

And that seems like madness, really. Better to focus on the mission, if you will, the core:  Improving regimental kit, and expanding civilian wear over time, for Battle Road and elsewhere. It makes participating in the hobby more like running a museum, and while I love my job, I was honestly looking to have a little more fun than I do at work.